The Lies we Tell Ourselves
by Kaazoo
Summary: Egyptian Arc AU. What if Seth defeated Atem at the shadow duel, and became Pharaoh? What if Atem lost his memories, and joined up with the first person he met, Bakura? What if Seth wants the former Pharaoh back, and is willing to fight for him?
1. Dreams of Blue Eyes

A/N : I hope you guys have as much fun reading this as I did writing it. I have so many ideas for this, it may turn into an epic, but we'll jump the hurdle when we com to it, won't we?  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing  
  
The Lies we Tell Ourselves  
  
Prolog  
  
What was this feeling inside of him? He was angry, no furious, at Seth for doing this to him, but that wasn't it. He had trusted the priest with secrets he didn't want revieled to anyone else. Yet the priest had turned on him and broken his trust, and his heart.  
  
"Don't do this, Seth." He begged. He never begged, but he wanted so badly for this to stop.  
  
"I'll stop when you are dead!" Seth cried, his dragon echoing his rage.  
  
"So be it." He knew what this feeling was now, hurt. For the first time in his life, he hurt inside. He had been sad when Mahaado hadd died, but that sadness was nothing to the pain he was feeling now. Seth had been his closest friend, his trusted priest, and his firt love. He had thought that he knew Seth, but this man standing in front of him somehow managed to be both the man he loved and the person who was trying to kill him. There was no difference anymore. HIs love had betrayed him, and it hurt.  
  
------  
  
Yami woke up suddenly, the pain of the nightmare fading with the growing light. His nightmare confused him. He had been looking through the eyes of someone he didn't know. Seth, though, he know how that was. Pharoah, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, and any other title the people felt he needed. Seth had been high priest once, but that had been years ago, before he challenged Pharoah Atem to a shadow duel and won. No one knew what happened to Atem, but Seth was Pharoah now, and to mention Atem's name was death. That was probably the only rule Seth had that Bakura made his thieves follow.  
  
"Atem was-" here, Bakura usually degraded to swearing. Every thief knew that thier king and the previous Pharoah had a history.  
  
The dream was gone now, and trying to remember it was like trying to grasp at wisps of smoke. Yami was left with only the feeling of hurt.  
  
In the other room, Bakura listened to Yami attempt to get dressed quietly. Yami had been talking in his sleep, and the words made Bakura think. Perhaps thier was something speical about the boy after all. 


	2. Fear of Blue Eyes

The Lies we Tell Ourselves  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Bakura sat in the darkness that was his private quarters. He was thinking about what Yami had been saying in his sleep the night before. It wasn't like the boy hadn't cried out in his sleep before, but this time, the names he cried out invoked memories that Bakura had tried to bury. He was Thief King, damn it, and the memory of some long dead half-wit Pharaoh wasn't enough to scare him into hiding. Even if there was a chance that Atem may be alive.  
  
Oh, the chances of that were slim. Bakura had seen with his own eyes the result of the shadow duel between Atem and Seth. Seth had won, but any idiot could see that Atem hadn't wanted to duel. So the King of Games had lost his title, and his life, to his former lover. The sap was enough to make his teeth rot. But that was beside the point. The point was: Atem's body had been swallowed by the shadows he had worked so had to tame. To this day, not one of the shadow players had been able to locate the former Pharaoh's body. Not that anyone ever spent much time or energy looking. Seth had taken the throne, and the name Atem was forbidden in the kingdom by pain of death.  
  
If Bakura had been thinking, he would have seen the link earlier.  
  
Flashback  
  
He was wondering around in the desert, trying to find some idiot wondering around in the desert to rob (never mind that he might be considered an idiot for wondering around in the desert like this) when he happened across a body in the sand. Now, being a thief, Bakura's first idea was to rob the body, then ask questions later. However, when he turned the body over so as to get a better chance at the gold in the front, he had to stop himself from jerking away. The entire front half of the body was melted away, exposing bones and insides. Bakura, who had always been a firm believer that the insides were supposed to stay inside the body, decided that he wasn't bored enough to rob this –thing- yet.  
  
"Is he dead?" Bakura had been so caught up in the body; he hadn't seen the boy behind him. Bakura had half a mind to turn around and tell the kid that of course this guy was dead, his teeth had fused together in his head. But when the 'evil' thief turned around to give the kid a piece of his mind, he was stopped. The boy was younger than he was, with black hair and red eyes. While Bakura's first thought was that this was Atem back from the dead, he realized that this was impossible. First of all, Atem wouldn't have been caught dead in what this boy was wearing, which was little more that a potato sack. Most of all, this boy was crying, something no one had ever know Atem to do. "He told me he was going to kill me for cheating him out of his dinner. But I didn't cheat; I won fair and square. And then he- he just fell over and started screaming. Then...his body-it was terrible!" The boy threw himself into Bakura's arms, and the momentum very nearly sent the two falling onto the corpse. Bakura regained his balance, and shoved the boy off of him.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He cried, pulling a knife from his belt. That kid not only had the audacity to hug him, but here he was babbling about this dying guy.  
  
"Don't leave me alone!" The boy wailed. Form where he was sitting in the sand, he painted a rather pathetic picture, tears streaming down his dirty cheeks, and not a clean spot to be found on him. Not that Bakura was one to be preaching cleanliness, but even he was cleaner than this boy was. The wailing was starting to grate on his nerves, and he cuffed the boy across the ears to make him stop crying.  
  
"Shut up!" He snapped, glaring at the boy. The boy sniffled a few more times, but fell silent. Now for the first time, Bakura gave the boy a through once over. He was tan, like everyone who lived here, with short red hair and eyes to match. He was short, almost as short as Atem had been, and seemed to have a strange scar running down the length of one arm. There was also a fresh cut across the bridge of his nose, most likely from Mr. Ugly, Dead and Liquid.  
  
"Please don't send me back." The kid begged, wiping tears from his eyes. Oh, this put Bakura into a wonderful position. He could leave the kid here, and seem heartless (which he was) or he could take the kid with him. He was leaning towards the first one, but an idea came to him. The dead guy had clearly been harassing the kid, so it was only logical that the kid was the one who turned him to mush. Someone with shadow powers like that would have rivaled Atem, if he were still alive.  
  
"Don't worry about it, kid. I think you may be worth more to me alive than baked in the sun." Bakura hauled him up by the collar of his rags, and gripped him by both shoulders. "What's you're name?"  
  
"I don't know." The boy didn't look as pathetic now that he knew he had a chance to get out of the sun.  
  
"What? You don't remember?"  
  
"No, I don't." Oh, the kid looked mad now. Touchy subject, then. File that away for future use against the brat.  
  
"Then what do you remember?" Now, the question could be answered in a number of ways. The most likely of which being 'nothing.' After all, if the kid couldn't remember his own name, it was unlikely he could remember much else.  
  
"Darkness." This was new.  
  
"Well, that's something to work with, I guess. But it's not like I can call you Darkness. That's a dead give away that you're a thief, and I don't want that."  
  
"I'm a thief?"  
  
"You are now. The first of my clan. We'll ravage the desert, and take all we can!"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because gold is shiny and will go well with your eyes. Now shut up and let me think of a name." Bakura started to walk away, and as he expected, the kid followed him.  
  
"What's your name?" The kid asked, tugging on Bakura's sleeve in an annoyingly needy fashion.  
  
"It's Thief King Bakura!" Bakura said, waving his arms in the air for the desired affect.  
  
"You're not much of a king if you only have one subject." Bakura snarled, and smacked the kid across the face.  
  
"You've got some lip for a kid who would roast to death in the sun without me."  
  
"You're awfully cocky for a thief that's gotten caught." Bakura stopped his hand in mid swing. This kid knew more than he was letting on.  
  
"What makes you think I've been caught?"  
  
"That scar." Here, the kid reached up and traced the lines on Bakura's cheek. Bakura was going to jerk back from the contact, but the kid beat him too it. He withdrew his hand, looking slightly pale.  
  
"Darkness..." The boy whispered, so quietly that Bakura had to strain to hear it.  
  
"How can you know about my scar, but not know your own name?"  
  
"The darkness took my name." The boy said simply.  
  
"Ra, I get the point! You don't like the dark. I'll leave a candle burning for you tonight, Yami." Bakura said, thinking not to tell the boy about the irony of his new name.  
  
"Yami." The boy tried the new word about, and must have liked it, because he didn't say anything else. And that was the end of it. The two walked to Bakura's little hovel, and Yami promptly feel asleep.  
  
End Flashback  
  
It was amazing how much Yami had changed in the past few years. He grown from the sniveling boy Bakura had found in the desert to a competent thief in the first few months. But competent hadn't been good enough for Yami, and so he had trained to become the best. It seemed to Bakura that Yami thought of his career as a thief as a game. As long as Bakura was better, he was winning. But Yami was getting better everyday. Bakura was loath to admit it, but Yami had saved his life once.  
  
Stupid guard had come out of nowhere, and Bakura was too loaded down to run fast enough. He was about the use the Ring to help him out, when the guard fell over twitching. Bakura had looked over his shoulder, and had seen Yami standing there. Yami's hand was held out in front of him, and he was glaring at the twitching guard. When the guard began to melt, Yami smirked.  
  
"Let's see if it takes you long to die after your teeth fuse together in your head." He said, and Bakura felt very proud watching Yami liquefy the guard. He had come so far since the last time he had done this.  
  
And that was the grand tale of how Bakura, Thief King, had to be saved by his brat. Not that Bakura ever called Yami his brat, but who's brat was Yami, if not his? But he digressed. The point he had been trying to make to himself had been important, if he could only remember what it was. It had something to do with Yami...oh yes. It was something about his connection to Atem. When Bakura had first met Yami, he had thought that someone with shadow powers like that could rival Atem. But it appeared now that someone with those shadow powers had to be linked to Atem in some way. Oh, Bakura had been able to explain away when Yami's hair had grown out. Atem had been famous for his tri-colored hair, and Yami's had always been red. But then it had grown out, and the red had turned to black closer to the roots, and blond bangs had grown. When Bakura had asked, Yami had said he hated it, and had chopped it all off. After that, Yami never let his hair get long enough for the blond and black to start growing in, and Bakura had forgotten.  
  
He had forgotten a lot, now that Bakura thought about it. Everything that may have linked Yami to Atem, Bakura had forgotten. He was having trouble remembering it now. But the names that Yami had called out last night, those he could remember perfectly. One was Seto, a name he had never heard before. The second was Mahaado, the name of Atem's priest, who Bakura had killed. The last name was Bakura, which wouldn't have been so strange if it hadn't been for the fact that it was said with such hatred, the sound of it made Bakura get goose bumps.  
  
Yami continued to rattle around in his room and curse as he struggled to get his pants on. The nightmare he'd had last night had rattled him, much more than he would care to admit. Especially not to Bakura, who would take the chance to nag him for being a wimp. So, Yami decided that the best course of action was to not give Bakura the chance to find out that Yami had had nightmares. Even if the nightmares were about tall, dark, blue eyed priests.  
  
A few minutes later, Yami stumbled out of him room into the main hall, half-dressed. While he had won the war against his pants, his shirt had remained unbeatable, and so he had left it on the floor. His goal now was to make breakfast with whatever food wasn't covered in dirt or mold before Bakura was up. However, much to Yami's surprise, Bakura was already sitting at their makeshift table, eating what looked like moldy bread.  
  
"Morning, Yami. This bread tastes funny." Even as he was saying so, Bakura shoved another piece into his mouth. Yami sighed, and reached forwards to grab the rotten food out of his friend's mouth. Bakura glared at him, and Yami shrugged, throwing the food out the door.  
  
"It was bad." He said, by way of explanation.  
  
"But it tasted fine." The thief king was on his way out the door to fetch the moldy piece of bread.  
  
"You just said it tasted funny." Yami blocked Bakura's way to the door, and shoved him back into his seat.  
  
"Funny doesn't mean bad." Bakura made an attempt to get back up again, but Yami sat himself down on Bakura's lap. Bakura glared at him, but gave up trying to get up.  
  
"Well, if you just sit here, I'll go get you some real food." Yami made sure Bakura wasn't going to get up to go for the bread, before he walked into the pantry. Sadly, it looked like that moldy bread was the only food in here. So for the morning at least, they would have to rely on their charisma to get them a meal. He walked back out to where he had left Bakura, and found him munching on the bread. Not that Yami was surprised, Bakura was always like this.  
  
"So where's the real food?" Bakura smirked, as he took a large bit out of the moldy bread. Halfway through chewing, Bakura frowned, and spat something on the ground. A spider scuttled off, happy to have escaped death, and Yami stepped on it.  
  
"Not here." Yami said, looking down at the spider disgustedly. "The pantry's empty, so we may have to go into town for breakfast."  
  
"What are you talking about? We have food here!" Bakura yelled, storming off to the pantry to prove his point. A minute later, he returned, moldy loaf of bread in hand. "See?"  
  
"While you may eat moldy, spider infested bread, I think that will make me ill. And I'm not good to you if I'm lying here moaning."  
  
"So what do you propose we do, oh mighty eater of expensive foods?"  
  
"Well, it won't be as expensive as you think it's going to be, because you've already eaten, and I refuse to pay for food for you if you've already had breakfast."  
  
"You call moldy bread breakfast?"  
  
"No, I don't. But you're the one who ate it, so it really doesn't matter what I think."  
  
"You know it always matters what you think." Bakura said, reaching up to tug on a lock of Yami's short hair affectionately.  
  
"I know it always matters what I think, but do you know?" Yami said, pulling the loaf of bread from Bakura's hands.  
  
"I know you know that it always matters what you think but...I'm lost."  
  
"Well, as many tombs as he can raid, Thief King Bakura will never win a battle of wits. That confuses me, as you have to be at least slightly intelligent to raid like you do without getting caught, yet I've never seen you show any sign of intelligence outside of tombs. Does something about dust, cobwebs and near death experiences make your brain cells work?"  
  
"Or maybe it's the thought that if I screw up, you'll turn me into a pile of mush." Bakura wrapped his arms around Yami, and pulled him into his lap.  
  
"I would never turn you into a pile of mush if you screw up."  
  
"What would you turn me into?"  
  
"I think I'll let you ponder that until I have to do something to you for screwing up. In the meantime, I need breakfast."  
  
"Always thinking of food, aren't you?" Bakura smirked, but let Yami up.  
  
"Like you aren't. The new tavern in town may give up some food." Yami called over his shoulder as he went to his room for his shirt.  
  
"There's a new tavern in town and I don't know about it?" Bakura shouted, and he heard Yami laugh. The laugh, however, turned into a curse as Yami fought with his shirt once again. When he emerged, fully dressed Bakura couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"What?" Yami said, looking at Bakura.  
  
"That's my shirt." The shirt hung huge on Yami, and it looked more like a dress than a shirt.  
  
"That would explain a lot." Yami made to turn back to his own room, but froze halfway and decided against that. "Screw it, I'm hungry, so I'm not fighting with this stupid shirt anymore."  
  
"You could just go without."  
  
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"  
  
"Very much so." Bakura reached forward tug the shirt off of Yami, but Yami dodged out of the way, and ran out the door, laughing.  
  
"You're getting slow, Thief King!" He called over his shoulder as he ran.  
  
"That's my shirt!" Bakura yelled as he chased after Yami, waving the moldy bread in the air. Before Yami could shout anything back, he ran straight into someone's back. The force of the impact knocked Yami onto his rear, and he stared dumbly up at the large palace guard he had run into. The guard glared at him, but must have decided that Yami wasn't worth his time, and the guard's sword stayed in his hilt. Yami decided not to push his luck, and got up, ready to walk to the tavern. However, that wasn't enough for the guard.  
  
"Hey, runt!" He yelled, grabbing Yami by the arm. "Show some respect for your betters!"  
  
"Don't you mean my biggers?" Yami sneered. That was not a smart move. Before the words were completely out of his mouth the guard had twisted his arm around behind his back.  
  
"You've got some attitude, runt. Let's see how cocky you are after I rearrange your face!" The guard drew back his fist, but he stopped before he hit Yami. Whether this was from the dark energy waves that Yami was giving off or the knife Bakura had imbedded in his back, no one knew. However, Yami didn't really care who or what killed the guard. He wasted no time pulling his arm from the dead guard's grip and bolting. Or, he would have bolted if a thunderous roar hadn't filled the sky.  
  
"Move it, Yami!" Bakura yelled, seeing something coming over Yami's shoulder. Yami, however, was frozen with fear.  
  
'That sound. It can't be...it just can't be.' His mind was chanting over and over, but his body refused to believe it. That sound, the roar of the Blue Eyes White Dragon, invoked two very powerful feelings in him. The very first was fear, deep, bone shaking fear. The second was a feeling of both complete safety and love. He couldn't understand this, but the first feeling was much stronger than the second was, so Yami was rooted to the spot.  
  
"Yami, move!" Bakura screamed, fear edging into his voice. Yami didn't respond. The dragon roared again, and Yami sank to the ground, covering his ears. Bakura, who was far ahead of Yami, ran back and tried to drag his partner to his feet. Suddenly, the sky went dark, and the roar of the dragon got louder, and closer.  
  
"He's come back for me." Yami whispered, sitting stoic on the ground.  
  
"Yami, he's going to get you unless you move!" Bakura yelled, still pulling on Yami's hand, trying to get him to stand. The thief had no idea who it was that Yami was babbling about, but the threat seemed to work. Yami finally stood up to run away, but it was too late. One dragon landed in front of them, and when Bakura turned around to run away, a second dragon blocked their path again. Guards appeared out of no where, each bearing a rather sharp looking sword. Bakura shoved Yami behind him and drew a sword of his own, ready to fight to the death. He was stopped from launching himself at the nearest guard by the landing of a third Blue Eyes White Dragon. The dragon looked at the thief king like he was a piece of trash, and Bakura glared right back.  
  
"Thief King Bakura, you grace me with your presence." Drawled a voice from behind Bakura. Once again, the thief turned around, and this time he found himself faced with the Pharaoh himself, Seth. Bakura heard Yami gasp from behind him, and even though Bakura wasn't looking at Yami he could feel the fear radiating from his partner.  
  
"What do you want?" Bakura snarled, reaching a hand back to squeeze Yami comfortingly on the arm. The smaller boy's breathing was irregular and very fast; he seemed closed to fainting.  
  
"That's a funny story. Just a minute ago, I felt a huge surge of shadow power and decided to investigate. So imagine my surprise when I came across you and your lovely little –partner- instead of someone worth my time." The Pharaoh sneered.  
  
"Ah, so you can leave, and it won't be a problem." Bakura said smoothly. Something about the Pharaoh was sending Yami into hysterics, and everyone in the area was likely to get turned into a pile of goo if Bakura couldn't calm Yami down.  
  
"You see, I won't leave until I figure out who the power came from. I know it had to be from one of you. However, little thief, your shadow powers are no longer what they used to be, even with the ring. So I'm thinking it has to be your partner." Seth took a step towards the two. Bakura held his ground, but Yami walked backwards until his back connected with one of the guards. Seth smirked, and walked towards Yami. Yami was trying desperately to get away, but the guard had clamped down on his arms and he couldn't move. Seth cupped Yami's chin in his hand, and titled his head up, examining Yami's face.  
  
"Let him go!" Bakura started towards the Pharaoh, dagger raised. He was stopped before he could even get two steps, his path blocked by one of the dragons.  
  
"You have the most beautiful eyes." Seth told Yami, smirking. "It's such a pity that your beauty is marred by such a hideous scar." Not dropping Yami's chin, Seth traced the scar long the bridge of Yami's nose with his index finger. "I've only even known one other person that had eyes this color." The hand that had been tracing Yami's scar went the his right arm, and shoved the sleeve of Bakura's-too-big-shirt up to his shoulder, revealing the scar that ran the length of Yami's arm  
  
"Don't touch me." Yami said, fighting the urge to break down and scream. He was terrified beyond belief, and he didn't know why.  
  
"So, the little thief is scared of the Pharaoh?" Seth said, leaning in closer to Yami's face.  
  
"I said-" Yami started, but Seth cut him off.  
  
"I heard you the first time." Seth leaned in even closer and continued speaking. "But when did I ever listen to you, Pharaoh mine?" Seth whispered in Yami's ear. Yami felt his eyes go wide, and his vision began to swim. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was a pair of bright blue eyes. Lucky for him, the body that belonged to those eyes caught him before he hit the ground.  
  
A/N: Well, that was unexpected, even for me. How does Seth know who Yami is, when even Yami doesn't? All will be explained in later chapters. Review, please. 


	3. Kidnapped by Blue Eyes

He didn't know where he was. The last thing he could remember was Seth whispering in his ear. 'Pharaoh mine…' he thought to himself, wondering why those words brought such pain to his heart. At the moment, however, he had more pressing matters to attend to. The first item on the list was to figure out where he was. There was no discernable floor beneath his feet, and the surrounding area seemed to curve around him, forming a bubble. More than that, the bubble was a teeming mass of black and purple, which seemed to pulse with his every heartbeat.

'Welcome back, Atem.' A baritone voice spoke from behind him. He turned, and found himself facing someone who he knew he should remember, but he couldn't.

'Who are you?' He asked, his voice echoing in the darkness. A small part of his mind wondered how his voice could echo in a void, but for the most part his concentration was centered on the person in front of him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make out the features of the person.

'You can't remember me?' The person paused sounding sad, before continuing. 'I guess that's to be expected. I shouldn't feel too offended. You probably don't remember him either.' He was confused now. Who was this him that this person was referring to?

'Why am I here?' Never mind that he didn't know where 'here' was, but something inside of him told him that the why was more inportant than the where.

'You tell me.' His companion shrugged, and turned to walk away.

'Wait!' He called out, holding a hand out to the retreating figure. 'Don't go! You haven't told me where I am!'

When Yami had collapesed, Bakura's first reaction had been to panic. And panic he had, waving his sword at the dragon that was blocking his path.

"Move, you over grown lizard!" He yelled rushing forward. To his surprise, the dragon actually moved, just enough that he could rush past. He had closed the distance between himself and the Pharaoh in five steps, but was brought to a sudden halt when the Pharaoh turned. Seth was smirking; looking much too pleased with himself. Yami was cradled in his arms, clearly unconscious.

"So, the Thief King rushes to the defense of his young ward." Seth drawled, the self-satisfied look not leaving his face. Bakura snarled at the tone of voice Seth was using and raised his dagger to attack. The weapon got no higher than his chest when Bakura froze. Seth dropped Yami to the ground to reveal that he had been holding the Millennium Rod the entire time. The item was glowing eerily, as if to make a point.

"Too afraid to fight me man to man, Pharaoh?" Bakura sneered, the Millennium Ring flaring to life in an attempt to ward off the Rod's spell.

"Not at all." The Rod glowed brighter, and Bakura's grip on the dagger weakened. Seth narrowed his eyes angrily. "You helped me defeat Atem by weakening him before hand. I have not forgotten this, but if you continue on this path, I will repay you with pain." Bakura scoffed.

"What are you going to do, make me stab myself with my own dagger?" Even as he spoke, the dagger fell to the sand, landing near Yami's prone form. "If you could kill me, you would have already. I see the Puzzle-" Bakura would have gestured to the golden puzzle around the Pharaoh's neck if he could move. "Isn't doing much to aid the Rod in your attempt to rid the world of me. Why is that? Can you not control it?" Light dawned in Bakura's eyes, and he grinned sadistically. "The Puzzle will not respond to a new Pharaoh unless the old one is dead. Could it be possible that you failed in your attempt to kill Atem?" Bakura was grinning, feeling smug with himself, but the feeling dissipated when Seth started to laugh.

"Are you really so stupid that you cannot put two and two together? You've been living with him for five years and you still don't know who he is? I would have thought that even an idiot thief like you could figure this out." Seth gestured at Yami with the Rod, and Bakura remembered his train of thought from that morning.

Funny, it wasn't even two hours ago that he had been pondering the names that Yami had screamed in his sleep. Now he was pondering how Yami could even be alive to scream names at night, if his theory about who Yami really was correct.

"You mean…" Bakura trailed off, feeling slightly, no, incredibly stupid. Of course, it all made sense. The shadow powers, the hair, the lack or memories. What was it Yami had said that first day in the desert? 'The darkness took my name?' It was beginning to make sense.

"I see you have finally caught on. Good. I hate having conversations with idiots. Though it appears I will be making an exception anyway." Bakura felt his lip curl in a very impressive sneer, but the Pharaoh was undeterred. "You, my idiotic thief king, have been living with, and I believe **sleeping with** the former Pharaoh Atem." Bakura bit back the urge to say something that would get his head cut off. From all that Seth was saying, it was obvious that he had known about Yami for quite some time. So why had he waited until now to strike?

"Why were you looking for him? You already killed him once, isn't that enough?" Bakura could feel the Rod's spell fading, although he doubted having the use of one toe would be any good against Seth, what seemed like his entire army, and three dragons.

"I doubt you would be able to understand why I have been searching for him. The point is, I have found him now, and I will take him." Though the Pharaoh was far above such childish mannerisms, the words _so there _were implied at the end of his speech. Bakura bit out a curse that would have made his mother's ears bleed, had she still been alive, and glared at the Pharaoh.

"You're acting like he's an object. Like you're just going to plunk him down on your bed and he'll just stay there until you have use of him." Bakura could move one leg now, and both arms. Seth had his hand on the Rod, but could Bakura get to his fallen dagger before the Pharaoh plunged the sharp end of the Rod into his chest? Luckily, Bakura was spared finding out the answer to this question when Yami, who had been lying forgotten at Seth's feet, stirred. Seth instantly devoted all his attention to Yami, freeing Bakura from the Rod's spell. Bakura went for his dagger, but he was ignored in favor of the still groggy Yami.

"What did you do to him?" Bakura snapped, not forgetting for an instant that Yami was not just a glass figurine. This was the second in command to an entire legion of thieves, many of who were wanted for much more than just petty theft. Seth was spared from answering when all traces of confusion disappeared from Yami's eyes and he grabbed at the puzzle hanging around Seth's neck.

"This is _mine_." He hissed, his voice containing more malice than even Bakura would have thought possible. But as soon as his eyes had cleared, they had clouded over again, and he loosened his grip on the puzzle.

"You have you answer." Seth said to Bakura, looking him straight in the eyes for what seemed like the first time. "His memories are only making their appearance now. He would have been of absolutely no use to me if he thought he was a thief. I need the Pharaoh."

"What the fuck do you think you're going to do to him?" Bakura said, taking another step forward.

"I'm going to do to him what I feel like. And there is nothing you, my puny thief, can do to stop me." The maniacal glint in Seth's eyes made Baker's blood run cold, and he prayed briefly to a god he no longer believed in that Yami would still be alive when he was rescued.


	4. Threatened by Blue Eyes

A/N: I'm not even four pages into this, and I think it needs a warning. Copious amounts of the word 'Fuck' because I think Bakura would talk like that, and Yami would have picked it up from him. So lots of swearing. Not all of it's tasteful, either.

The first thing Seth did when he got back to the palace was to set Ate- No, Yami, he reminded himself. This tan boy with horrendous hair was the thief prince Yami, not the beautiful Pharaoh that he had both loved and hated- on his bed, and then he called for dinner from his slaves. As he sat at the edge of his bed, eating, he shed one piece of exotic jewelry after another until all that he was left with was the puzzle and the rod, which was safely tucked in his belt.

Yami was lying on the bed, spread out like some offering before a god. Seth licked his lips, both to rid them of excess fruit juice and in anticipation of the things he could do to the prone thief. An offering to a god, indeed. An offering to the only living god.

Seth reached one hand out, and ran it down Yami's chest, nearly hissing in excitement. This was a prize to be savored, there was no doubt about that. But just when his hand had reached the top of Yami's loin cloth, the Millennium Puzzle lit up with a brilliant light, and Seth felt his hand began to burn with intense pain. He jerked it back, and the second his hand was no longer touching Yami, the Puzzle stopped glowing and his skin stopped burning.

"So, little thief, it looks like there is more to you than meets the eyes. Though I already knew that." Seth reached for another fruit, and took a bite, savoring the way the juices ran down his throat. One way or another, Yami would give him what he wanted. He was a patient man, he had waited years before he had threatened Atem. Shame he hadn't thought to finish the job. Absentmindedly, he ran a hand over the Rod. He would do it correctly this time. He would make sure of that.

Bakura had always hated the Pharaoh, be it Atem or Seth. But now, he was having to think very hard about his hatred of at least one of the Pharaohs. And Bakura usually never thought about anything. He was a stab first, think later kind of man. Yami had always been the one to think things through. Which would probably explain why he had never been caught in all the years he was with Yami.

He stopped his musings short. Here he was trying to think something out rationally (granted, he was only trying the rational route after he had destroyed nearly everything in his house, including that half-eaten loaf of bread that still had spiders in it. He had nearly eaten it to spite Yami, before he had remembered that Yami wasn't there right at that moment, courtesy of one Pharaoh jack-ass.) and he was just avoiding the real subject by thinking about the subject of the real subject.

"Shut up and think, you idiot." He hissed at himself, wanting nothing more than to bang his head against the table. Damn, this was frustrating. "You found Yami in the desert not a year after Atem was dead. He looked about the same age, but who the fuck knows how old Atem was? It's not like he paraded his age around. Hell, that kid could have been near fifty, and he would have acted like a brat. 'My father forged the Millennium Items for justice and truth!' Ra, what a idiot. And then there was his whole thing about my scars. What did he have against my scars? Yami always….right, back to the point. Yami had Shadow powers equal to Atem's, that much was obvious. But Atem never fused anyone's teeth together to kill them. But Yami obviously didn't have his memory. Seth said that. Fucking Pharaoh. He wanted Yami because his memories were surfacing. And he obviously had some residual fear of Seth's Blue Eyes left over from the duel with Seth. So he had some memories, but not all of them. Which means I can be justified in my hatred of Atem, and still want to rip Seth's heart out through his ass for touching MY Yami." Bakura rounded on the spiders that were lurking around their former loaf of bread home. "What the fuck are you looking at?" he yelled, sending them scattering to all corners of the house. "Ra," he whispered, putting his head in his hands once all the spiders were gone. "I'm going crazy. Absolutely crazy." He barked out a bitter laugh. With Yami was here to see this happening. He would have loved to laugh at me."

Yami had decided that he thoroughly hated this stupid place, wherever he was. There was no floor, for one thing, and no one seemed to want to give him any information, for another. The first person he had seen when he had arrived, right after the Pharaoh had cornered him, was the tall, purple and silent type. No matter how many questions Yami asked, the only answer he ever received was a shake of the man's head. Yami was really mad, and he was getting bored. This was not a good combination.

He had tried, not long after he had arrived, to use his powers to blast his way out of there. The results had not been what he expected, and he was not anxious to try that again. The second he had tried to call on the Shadows that usually were the source of his powers, he had felt a burning pain on his forehead.

He had opened his eyes to find he was no longer in the place with no floor. Bakura was standing there, a good distance away from Yami, who was in Seth's arms. Dangling not two inches from his nose was the Millennium Puzzle. He had grabbed for it, fully intending to use the rope it was attached to as a tool to strangle Seth with. But when he grabbed the Puzzle, the voice that came out of his mouth was not his own.

"This is _mine._" He had said. And his voice was so deep and imposing that Yami had been frightened, just for a second, and his grip of the Shadows (that he didn't know he'd still been holding on to) had been loosened. He had been sent back here, and nothing interesting had happened since then. Unless one counted the fluff ball that had attached itself to Yami's left leg as interesting, but Yami was more disturbed than interested. And the stupid thing wouldn't leave him alone, no matter how hard he shook his leg. It just looked at him like it was a kicked puppy (and he would know that look, Bakura loved kicking small, helpless creatures. He also enjoyed the noise they made when his foot made contact, but Yami had never indulged in that particular bad habit) and clung tighter to his leg. Yami had finally given up, had settled down on what was the closest thing he could get to the floor, and was now stroking the fuzz ball like it was perfectly natural.

"I used to be evil, you know," he said. The fuzz ball nodded and cooed sagely, like it had any idea what Yami was talking about. "Yesterday morning, fuck, even this morning, I wouldn't sit here petting you! I would be out, trying to beat Seth to death with his own legs for ever trying to intimidate me like that!" Yami sighed, and rested his head in his free hand. "I miss Bakura. He would be swearing and cutting things and getting us out of here. Not like me, I'm just sitting here and whining. But how the fuck am I supposed to get out of a place that has no floor?" he shouted the last part, and the man in purple answered.

"It really isn't that hard to leave. You simply have to express that desire to the Shadows." Yami blinked once, before standing, and staring.

"Well, that's brilliant. I'll just express my desire to leave to the Shadows!" he tilted his head back and stared screaming. "Hey you, I want to leave! Do you hear me, you fuckers? I want to-"

Seth had just been sitting on his bed, admiring his prize and eating fruit when Yami had shot straight up and screamed.

"- leave!" He paused, and blinked, before his eyes settled on Seth. "Oh fuck."

"Hello, pretty little thief. I'm glad you finally decided to join me. Peach?" Seth held the fruit out to Yami, smirking and licking peach juice from his lips. Yami glared at him until Seth retracted the peach.

"Why am I here?" Yami asked, trying to sound incredibly threatening and not near as terrified as he really was. It would help if Seth wasn't looking at him. Those blue eyes were sending shivers up his spine that made him want to run from the room.

"You are here because I brought you here." Yami felt his lip twitch at Seth condescending tone, and he bit back a snarl.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Because I wanted you to understand something about who you are. I had such high hopes for you, but I can see now that you're really not something I should be impressed about. You're just a petty thief, serving under a deluded peasant who thinks he's a king." Had Seth not been expecting the attack, he would have died right then. As it was, he was saved by three things. One was his knowledge of the way Atem's mind worked. The second was that Yami didn't know where to find a dagger, which wasted him several precious seconds. The third was the fact he still had not removed his hand from the Rod.

Yami's assassination attempt ended with his purloined fruit knife nicking Seth's neck. He would have driven it all the way up to the hilt, had Seth not had the Rod's point resting right above his heart.

"I would not advise you try that again."

"Yeah, next time I'll be sure to kill you instead of leaving you alive to keep talking." Yami bit out, attempting to get up and head for the window.

"Where do you think you are going?"

"Out. Away. Home. Some place you are not. Any of those satisfy you, your royalness?" Before Yami could get halfway to the window, Seth had an iron grip around his upper arm.

"You will _never_ talk to me like that again," Seth snarled. Yami glared at him, not in the least bit scared by the man he had been terrified of not two hours ago.

"Get your hand off of me." Yami, in an attempt to rid himself of Seth's presence, pulled on his Shadow power. It was pure instinct, until he felt more power than he had imagine rushing through his body. Seth, in an act of self-preservation, was pulling on the same power. The air was fairly crackling with it, and Yami could fell something inside of him respond to the power in a way he hadn't thought possible.

"This is my palace, my world, my rules," Seth said, looking livid. "You will learn to live by them if you want to live through the next ten minutes." He didn't let go of Yami's arm. If nothing else, his grip got tighter. "If you ever forget that, the consequences will completely destroy you. Remember that, thief. I hold your life in my hands." His Shadow Powers flared brighter, or darker, in this case, and Yami winced.

"You're not the only one who can play this game, Pharaoh. I've survived a life you would die just hearing about. Your petty threats are nothing." His own powers swirled around him, actually visible in the air around the both of them. However, every word out of Yami's mouth in the past sentence had been a complete lie. He was terrified, on some level that he couldn't even begin to understand, let alone explain. It wasn't the paralyzing fear that had gripped him when he had first heard the Blue Eye's call. This was different. It was every instinct in his body screaming for him to run.

Yami had hoped his threat and the additional magic would have Seth backing down just a little bit. Instead, the Pharaoh threw back his head and laughed.

"You think you can scare me? You have no idea what you're even doing with your powers." He wrenched Yami's arm behind him, and tossed the smaller boy on the bed. Before Yami had a chance to recover, let alone fight back, Seth was straddling his hips. The Pharaoh leaned in close, and Yami could feel his breath in his ear. It was a terrible sense of deja-vu and Yami could feel his instincts screaming louder.

"You belong to me now. If you remember that, your life will be longer than it might have been." Seth smiled, which was probably the scariest thing Yami had seen in his life, and trailed one hand up and down Yami's side. Each brush of a finger against his ribs sent tingles down his spine. Yami was simultaneously absolutely terrified and completely at ease. The feeling was doing nothing to convince him that he was safe. And he missed Bakura.

A/N: Yes, I know, shoddily done. However, I'm about to get on a flight to my Grandma's house (I love wireless internet in airports) and I wanted to get this up before I leave with no internet connection for about a week. Here, enjoy. At least it's longer than the last chapter by more than I'd care to admit.


End file.
